The Boy Who Plays for the City
by scribbledpapers
Summary: Karkat Vantas is a street performer in the busy town of New York City. He has doesn't have any money or family to support him and has nothing but a guitar to his name. Warnings: Humanstuck AU, cursing (well it is Homestuck), no pairings.. yet.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey there guys.. This is my first fanfiction that I am actually posting on the internet! It is based off of the beginning of an rp I had a while ago.. I have big plans for this story so I hope the few couple chapters are successful! Enjoy! (Sorry only two characters are really introduced in this chapter, I planned on introducing at least three but I decided to cut it off before I got there. All the other characters will be introduced throughout the story. If I have made any spelling/grammar errors please let me know.)_

Nepeta Leijon strode down the frost boulevard, her grey peacoat sheltering her from the harsh winter wind that billowed through the streets, causing loose, forgotten papers to dance down the pavement. She stared at the twenty dollar bill clutched in her gloved fingers, a pondering look set on her pale face, her eyebrows knitted in thought as she murmured nonsense to herself, barely managing to dodge the people traveling in the opposing direction. The brown haired girl was trying to recall the list of groceries her housemate and childhood best friend, Equius Zahhak, had sent her out to retrieve. It seemed she had tuned him out while he was listing off the needed items.. It wasn't her fault, one of those guilt trap commercials for the A.S.P.C.A. about sending donations for abused and neglected animals had popped up on the television and had seemingly captivated her attention as the long haired male was talking.. She figured just purchasing three gallons of milk, her roommates 'drug' would make up for her forgetfulness, and whole milk at that too, none of that fat-free crap. She shoved the money safely back into her coat pocket, keeping her green eyes glued to the sidewalk. But a few minutes passed and the approaching sounds of a guitar's steel strings, strumming an original melody grabbed her attention. She looked up to see a dark haired young man about her age, performing for the pedestrians walking by, his guitar case left open at his feet, harboring a small assortment of change. She paused for a moment to watch him play. The instruments strings looked as if they were getting ready to pop and he would need to replace them soon. His hair was disheveled not only from the wind, but as well as what she suspected as minimal maintenance. The young man did not seem to be dressed appropriately for the season seeing it was officially winter. She could sense something harnessed in his resonating singing voice.. Sadness? Hardship perhaps? ..Maybe both? The scenario began to bringing her memories of her commercial she had seen before she set out. Nepeta couldn't help but compare him to the homeless little 'kitty-cats' that had been displayed on the t.v. screen. She pulled the twenty dollars out of her pocket completely forgetting her shopping duties and dropped it into the instrument case with the coins.

Let's just say Karkat Vantas wasn't the richest person in the world. Okay so he wasn't rich at all, he was probably the most poverty-stricken person he knew and would probably ever meet. He often scavenged the streets for extra change or possibly a lucky dollar or two that had blown out of someone's pocket, or a few left over bucks from a quick, unorganized drug deal that took place in the alley ways between buildings, the places he often slept. He barely ever collected enough money to pay for the canned food the dark haired young man 'feasted' on day-to-day, he could much less afford even the cheapest apartment money could buy in his home, New York City. He had no job or family to help him financially and earned the majority of his small income from his god given talent; music. He was a 'street performer' and would rise every early morning to walk the blocks of the city he knows so well, looking for the perfect spot to set up to play for the rest of the day. His performance stage was often the outsides of cafes and restaurants of some sort, sometimes theatres or parks, just places that attracted people, people with money. But in actuality it was only an occasional event that someone would stop to throw loose change along with the fabric lint from the depths of their pockets into the guitar case left open at his tattered shoes, he would pause for a moment to nod his thanks and then continue on with his work. Though he didn't earn much, Karkat appreciated every measly cent he was spared. From dawn to dusk he sung and strummed for New York City, performing for 'way below minimum wage' -he often joked with himself. And though this may not be the most pleasing or easiest ways of life, it was the one he knew best, because though he may not know where the bench or alley way he might be sleeping that night was, Karkat knew he would rise in the morning and play for the city all over again, this for sure would remain constant and it made the young man feel relatively stable. But of course he had always had plans for himself; one day he would hope to walk among the people he sings to, not as a performer but as a respected musician and just maybe those people would recognize him as 'The boy who played for the city'. Unfortunately his canned food meals were light years away from fine dining, the worn clothes on his back and his thrift shop shopping sprees were far from the expensive jackets and department store checkout counter lifestyle he dreams about. And now he was beginning to play his last song, preparing to get ready to dream about that life all over again. His voice rose louder and louder as he sang strumming the guitar with more enthusiasm as he played further into the song. Nearing the end of his song the young man looked down again, grey eyes falling on the twenty dollar bill his case has seemed to obtain. He froze, placing a hand gently on top of the guitars strings to silence them, the soft vibrations from the last cord played ran through his palm only to quickly be put to rest like the song itself. Karkat looked up in astonishment, his wide eyes reaching a smiling face.

"You're really good!" Nepeta notified him, her voice matching her bright expression. Karkat stood quickly moving his grip of the guitars wooden neck from one hand to the other.

"I.." He glanced down again, swallowing, his mouth was open but his voice didn't seem like it wanted to work. The messy haired young man eyed the green bill.. wow, twenty dollars.. He quickly dropped to balance on the balls of his feet, scooping up all of the day's earnings- which was about five dollars in change not including the twenty dollars he has just been spared- and shoved it into his jacket's pocket, replacing the absence of money with his guitar, locking his instrument away securing it with the satisfying clicks of the case's silver locks. Shaking his head Karkat rose, the twenty dollars grasped in his hand.

"I… I can't except this much.." He slowly shook his head, holding the green piece of paper out to the young woman again. "I mean..Shit." Running a hand through his dark hair he examined the smiling girl, noticing the remains of cat hair rested in between the line of parallel buttons running down her grey jacket, she seemed to be very generous, well weren't most cat owners? Wasn't that a stereotype of theirs? He knelt down and wrapped his fingers around the black plastic handle of the guitar case lifting it up off of the sidewalk, turning the bottom side away from the brown haired girl to rest against his jeaned legs, embarrassed of the scratches as scrapes it had acquired from all the time it spent on the pavement of roads and walk ways.

"This is way too much.." Karkat held out the money to her again. "I really do appreciate it, but don't you need it?" In all honesty he had no idea why he was offering such a high (for him) amount of money back, he supposed it was just the right thing to do, despite all the necessities he could purchase with it. 'Ahh yes. Thrift shop and preserved food heaven.' He thought sarcastically, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

Nepeta puffed her cheeks out in disapproval only to broadly smile again at the other.

"No no! Really, take it! I'm sure you have a better use for it than I do." She nodded at him reinforcing and reassuring the other the fact that the money was now his. This gave Nepeta the opportunity of returning back to her shared apartment to ask Equius for more money and an actual written down list of groceries. Slowly retracting his hand he carefully placed the bill into his pants pocket, making safe precautions to make sure he wouldn't be losing the young woman's tribute.

"Thank you.." He nodded back at her. "Was I really that good?" He raised an eyebrow switching his guitar case to the other hand.

"Oh of course!" She watched his hands switch the support of the protective case, they were worn, the back of his hands scraped, and she even got a glance on the calluses that were prominent on his finger tips from his endless day-to-day guitar playing. "You are very talented." Nepeta added moving her eyes back to Karkat's face, grey eyes meeting green. "I'm Nepeta." She introduced herself to the young guitarist.

"Karkat." He replied and she let out a small quiet giggle, how fitting, it wasn't too long ago she was comparing the young man to the cats from the commercial. Nepeta opened her mouth to reply to the other's introduction when the phone in her pocket simultaneously vibrated and played the message tone familiar to her ears.

"Oops.." the smile slowly falling from her face. "Sorry Karkat.." She apologized for the interruption, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and sliding her finger across the screen that now displayed the name 'Equius Zahhak' underneath a pixel envelope waiting to be opened.

"I'm really sorry, but I better be on my way." Nepeta looked up from the phone screen and to the other not even bothering to take a look at the message, knowing that it probably means she has to be going anyway. "It's been really nice talking to you. You're a wonderful guitarist hopefully I'll see you playing around sometime!" She commented the grin returning to her face once again.

"I'm sure you will." Karkat nodded. "I better going as well. See you around. Thank you again, Nepeta." He said over his shoulder as he turned around to make his departure from the other and she did the same, turning around and walking back down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the way she had come, making her way back to her apartment. She unlocked her phone again opening the message she had disregarded at first.

'Are you at the store yet?' The message read.

It was just typical Equius to be texting Nepeta about where she was and where she was headed etc. Honestly if he so desperately wanted to know of her whereabouts every waking second of the day he should have just attached some sort of tracking device to her cellphone, being a self-employed robotics engineer he was perfectly capable of doing so but he also respected her privacy. Though sometimes she wished he didn't worry as much, but she had a tendency to just wander off and venture the city without letting him know, some of which adventures did not end as well or as safely as they should have, she could take care of herself in those situations but she knew Equius felt like it was his job to know where she was and to know she was okay. Nepeta was Equius' responsibility and he was her responsibility, it had been like that for a long time, they really never knew any other way and had no desire to. The two of them were a package, sort of like a 'buy-one-get-one-free-whether-you-like-it-or-not' kind of deal, you couldn't have one without the other.

She was jolted back to the present away from old memories when she saw the time blinking on the top of her phone screen. If she didn't hurry and get back to the apartment now she would be late for night school. She had been late to classes for about the past week and though her professor was always very kind and understanding when the brunette girl made her debut after class had already began, she couldn't help but feel like it was just becoming an inconvenience to her mentor and fellow classmates. She shoved the phone back into her pocket not wanting it's time telling ways to make her more stressed out than she already felt. Nepeta wanted to just bolt, she wanted to get back home as fast as her own legs could take her there and living in New York City she had learned that if you are running and it doesn't look as if you have any intentions of stopping, other pedestrians are hesitant to get in your way. But any running at all seemed like it wasn't going to happen with the number of people on the side walk traveling every which direction, so she lengthened her gait as long as the wall of people surrounding her would allow.

_Annnddd end chapter one. In the next chapter Equius and I hope Sollux will be introduced. Hopefully that wasn't too painful to read for you all. I would love to get some feedback on this, negative or positive.. But this is my first fic I'm actually posting here so.. please be gentle. hehe._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey everyone.. Okay so first thing's first.. I am soooooooo sorry this took two weeks to actually get uploaded, I was out of the country last week and I promised myself I would not bring my computer. I had loads of fun at with my friends at the beach, my computer missed out. I bought a new notebook before I left so I could write during my free time and the airplane ride over here.. let me tell you, I have developed muscles in my hand that I really don't think you are supposed to have. But anyway, here is the second chapter. I'm sorry if some of it sounds undetailed and kind of rushed, maybe that's just me reading it and thinking those certain parts just suck; Like I say, I am my own worst critic. and I promise Sollux and Equius are not in romantic cahoots with each other though it may sound that way right now they aren't.. I also promise they are not prostitutes. (Oh and yes. Sollux is a canadian. I'm really not sure why.. I just really wanted to do that) Karkat unfortunately is not in this chapter, I feel like it was cut a bit short due to me wanting to get something uploaded so I just don't seem like that dead person on the internet who dies for months and then sneaks on by with an update and then disappears for another several months. But if all goes as planned next chapter will definitely be longer, and I hope to be introducing at least Eridan and Feferi next chapter, Gamzee my be possibly introduced if things go really well. _

Nepeta stood in front of the recently painted door of her apartment, she had not gotten the groceries and she had not replied to her companion's text message. She bit her bottom lip, oh boy was she going to get it.. 'it' probably being a lecture or something of the sort, the point was she was never going to hear the end of how worried he was and how she needs to be more careful and check in with him more frequently while she's out and about. Nepeta took a minute to see if she could hear Equius working, or at least moving around inside doing what it was Equius' do, through the solid wood of the door. But everything seemed to be pretty quiet inside the walls of the shared apartment, just the muffled sound of the forgotten television in the room near the front door. She released her bottom lip from the grasp of her teeth as she fished in her pockets for the key, her fingers eventually wrapping around the familiar piece of metal hiding in the silk interior of the coat pocket. The brunette unlocked the front entrance of the door and slowly pushed it open, stepping inside, turning the t.v. set off as she walked past it. The sound of an electric powered drill drifted through the hallways, the noise no longer being over powered by the sound of the television program. So Equius was working, meaning he was either particularly nervous and trying not to call the police by occupying himself with something he needed to get done, or he was not worrying about it at all and was content enough to work in his makeshift workshop; one of the two extra bedrooms of the apartment. The sound of the drill soon died down and Nepeta was able to make out two distinct, familiar voices as she approached the open doorway of the workshop; The soft-spoken murmur of Equius Zahhak and another tone filtered by a prominent lisp belonging to no other than Sollux Captor.

Sollux was a blonde, Canadian, ambidextrous, computer programmer as well as an electrician, the guy had a knack for anything and everything electronic, which was something the long haired man and himself shared. Equius and Sollux were something like business partners, Equius supplied the other with pieces and equipment for him to experiment with and in return Sollux programmed Equius' machinery, they often collaborated on personal projects, bounced ideas off of each other and often had conversations about what Nepeta likes to refer to as 'technology politics'. But Sollux had other interests outside of technology, the blonde male had tried and failed multiple times to farm bees on the terrace of his own apartment. He had always taken interest in bee keeping, ever since he had gone to visit his uncle- who was an apiculturist – when he was young. But as a child growing up in northern Canada the cold climate didn't exactly support bees as well as he had wanted it to, and his new home in NYC was not exactly ideal for bee keeping either.

Nepeta slowly creeped under the doorframe of the room, listening to the conversation of the two and looking over the familiar, unorderly display and placing of the workshop. Metal scraps and wires were spread over the floor and table tops, papers were aimlessly thrown around the general area of the metallic trashcan, scrolls of blue prints were stacked up in piles, hiding in various corners and one blueprint was unrolled and laid out on the work table, the curled edges being held open by the weight of a wrench and one of Nepeta's sunbathing- well, moonbathing- rescues; This was, without question, the most disorderly room in the apartment. The only thing orderly about the workshop was the tools hanging on the back wall, organized by function and segregated by whether the tool was electric or man powered. The rest of the apartment was fairly organized , aside from Nepeta's various art projects that were scattered around the Zahhak-Leijon household. Though they were typically concentrated around the kitchen table or the floor space infront of the television set, art supplies seemed to magically travel on its own from room to room.

"I'm home." Nepeta announced her arrival to the two males contently chatting away. Equius was sitting at the work bench parallel to the table it belonged to, his tall, lanky figure was slumped over with his elbows resting on his knees, leaving the rest of his arms and hands to hang freely between his legs, his back was turned to her and he was facing Sollux who was sitting in the windowsill of the workshop's only window, staring out across the skyscraper's light show; New York City 'after dark'.

"Welcome back, Nepeta. I was just starting to worry about you." Equius straightened up and glanced over his shoulder at the brunette before he stood to greet her. Sollux turned away his attention away from the lights outside and gave Nepeta a single nod, welcoming her, a soft grin on his face. Even the Calico came to greet her, jumping off the table, abandoning its blue print duties to come rub against her shoes and weave itself in between her legs. Seeing the feline had beaten him to giving her an 'at-close-quarters' greeting, Equius took his seat again, facing Nepeta.

"I know.." She gave the other an apologetic smile, leaning down to pick up the cat purring for her attention at her feet. "So what are you boys working on?" She asked the two, taking a seat in the empty stool on the opposite side of the polished wooden table. Nepeta redirected her eyes from the 'kitty' in her lap to the beginnings of the metal contraption sitting on the table, continuing to scratch the calico between the shoulder blades.

"Just a new robotics project." Sollux answered her, rising from the windowsill to his full height. Equius tapped the blueprints on the table, pulling her attention to the graph of sketches and measurements that for the most part she was incapable of deciphering.

"Oh cool!" Nepeta complimented the two on their plans knowing absolutely nothing of what the contraptions was being built for, which was usually the case with their projects. The brunette set the feline back on the ground where it trotted off to seek a basket of laundry or the company of the other rescue 'kitty-cats' in the homestead to play with. Nepeta has a bad habit of bringing home the rescues she encounters on her little adventures in the city, quite frankly this drove Equius crazy. The antics of the cats would often overwhelm him and he would become attached to the cats as well if he didn't make her get rid of them, and this would just leave the young man stuck between a rock and a hard place; trapped in the cold claws of kitten denial, he knew they couldn't take care of them all. Nepeta's cat hunting is something like a young child in a toy store; She wanted every one of the cats she saw and it would be hard for her to get rid of the strays no matter when Equius had to play the role of the young child's parent and tell her to put them back where she found them. But she had managed to convince Equius to let them keep three of the cats she had brought home in the past; After 'rescuing' the three she had hid them from him, making their presence in the apartment unknown to the other, and she had succeeded in doing that for quite a while. It wasn't until Equius discovered one of the cats sleeping in the bathroom sink that he found out what she had been doing. She leaned over on the table, propping her elbows up and resting her cheek in her open palm, continuing to prod at the hunk of metal pieces and wires, bolted and fused together as the two techno-savvy individuals finished up their conversation.

Sollux began to tell Equius of the virus a computer he fixed the other day had somehow accumulated and what he had to go through to fix it, as the long haired male attempted to watch the brunette paw at the wire straying free from the metal body, while still trying to make his attention toward the blonde and his story evident; The last thing Equius wanted was for himself to come off as rude or uninterested.

Sollux's voice started to slowly fade as his sight drifted to the watch wrapped around his wrist, he then cut himself off. "Oh wow." He looked up at the two, hetero iridium eyes wide. "We have to go." The blonde notified the other male in the room. Throwing the subject of the time into their conversation and pushing the rest of the tale of his latest technological adventure into the back of his mind for later storytelling. "And you miss, better be on your way as well, or someone is going to be late for class again." He raised an eyebrow, adding emphasis on 'someone' emphasizing the fact that someone was Nepeta Leijon.

Nepeta's posture changed dramatically, her currently curved spine and lazy exposition straightening and becoming alert upon hearing the keyword 'class'. What was wrong with her memory today?

"Oh my god!" She hopped off the stool taking off down the hallway and coming to a skidding halt at her bedroom entrance, throwing herself inside. "Thanks Sollux!"  
"Sure thing." He called down the hallway after her, adjusting the metallic frame of his glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose where they normally rested on his face. "Ready?" He asked the other after he found himself content with the placement of his spectacles.

"Ready." Equius answered, giving a single nod. Throwing the towel the rested over his shoulder down on the work bench, not bothering to fold or fix it from its current mound of disorderly arrangement. He rose and swiftly began his migration out of the workshop, pulling his long hair into a ponytail, up and off of his shoulders, Sollux trailing close behind the taller man.

Nepeta came stumbling into the hallway, her book bag was thrown hastily over her shoulder. It slowly made its way down her limb until the strap of the bag finally rested where her arm bends at the elbow. It rested in the nook of her arm if only for a few seconds before it was thrown to the ground as she threw herself forward wrapping her arms around Equius' lower torso in a hug, emphasizing her gesture with a small squeeze. "Oh.. Equius. I didn't get the groceries." She told to other, hiding her face from him in the embrace, ashamed because- as people on the internet would say- she 'had one job'.

"That's alright.." Equius let out a sigh as he replied, giving himself an even more light and breathy tone than usual. He returned the hug, placing a hand on top of her head, gently ruffling her brown hair. "The washing machine is broken."

She released him, pulling away and patting down her thick hair to as much of a controlled state as it could possibly maintain. "Seriously? Again?" she asked him, trying to be serious about the subject but a few light giggles escaped through her forced stone expression, she couldn't help it, the topic of their faulty washing machine was funny to her.

Equius nodded, "We just need a new one, I'm tired of fixing it." He said a small smile tugging at the end of his own lips. The washing machine had never been good, though it got the job done -when it was actually working- it was finally on its last leg.

"Well, call your dad and tell him we need a new one. I'm sure he would help us out with that."

Mr. Zahhak, Equius' father, owned a prosthetics engineering company. He had worked almost his entire life to build the business and in the long run, it had made him rich. He sent money to the two every so often to help them out financially, seeing they were far from owning an, essentially, multi-million dollar business of their own.

Equius nodded lightly then shrugged, indicating he knew his father would fund them to replace the necessity but didn't want to pester him about boosting them and their financial state. "..Well..I'll get the groceries if you do the laundry." He changed the subject, making an attempt to bargain with her on the chores that needed to get done.

Nepeta looked at the other a moment before her regular smile spread across her face. "Deal! But I'm going to have to come back after class to get it all." She leaned down to pile all the book that were scattered upon impact back into the bag before haphazardly throwing it back over her shoulder again. "So where are you boys headed?" She asked, rising to her feet and brushing the stray locks of hair out of her eyes as the brunette proceeded to turn on her heels to begin the journey to the front door.

Equius and Sollux exchanged nervous glances behind Nepeta's turned back. They-well.. Equius- didn't want her to know where they were going much less what they planned on doing there. They did the same thing almost every night, very rarely were these events scheduled during daylight hours. Nepeta did not know of their whereabouts and Equius planned on keeping it that way, it was better if she didn't know, he knew she would most likely make him stop, but he feared her reaction to his 'second job' most of all. There was a long silence before Nepeta peered over her shoulder, the gaze of her green eyes bounced back and forth between the two young men, oh Equius hated when she did that and he was now feeling a cold sweat starting to build up along his forehead, she still expected an answer from one of them.

Stealing one last quick glance with Equius, Sollux answered the ever so expectant young woman. "Oh uh, we're just going back to my place to code the software for our new project." He lied, making an attempt to battle through the sudden surge of panic racing through the bloodstream of both males. Equius nodded, making an attempt to back the blonde up on his little tall tale. They shouldn't be so nervous, Sollux had given a very believable alibi. Sollux, himself, gave Npeta no reason to not believe him, the Canadian did code all of his own software after all, he had even 'performed the act' of coding with Nepeta in the room a few times before, and after all he gave no obvious signs off lying. The two boys should be able to get themselves out of this smoothly. Which they managed to do, Nepeta had smiled, told them to have fun and was off and on her way to night school in no time at all and they both felt sweet relief chase out the nerves running in their veins.

"We're going to slip one of these days, Captor." Equius sighed referring to the situation with Nepeta earlier. The two of them now walked down the now relatively empty sidewalk in front of the line of business buildings and small shops. He glanced up at the night sky, most of the stars had faded into the dark background. Their light was nothing compared to the brightness of New York City lights, but his own imagination and memories filled in the empty spaces with the missing stars. His blue eyes drifting across the made-up constellations and over to the moon, sitting big and bright, perched where it normally resided in the night sky.

"Oh calm down. We've done a good job so far. She won't find out, and if she does it wouldn't be anytime soon." Sollux answered in a lisped tone that clearly said 'calm-your-shit-Equius' as he tried to follow the other's star gazing. The few stars and neon lights belonging to the signs above their heads reflected in an annoying glare in his glasses, the blonde then opted to setting his own gaze in a tunnel vision in front of him, watching where he was walking.

"I suppose.." Equius looked down from the sky, blue eyes now grazing on the various cracks of the cement walkway. "I just.. hate to lie to her, I usually leave once she's already gone so I do not have to be so reticent about the subject.. And if she finds out she will skin me in my sleep." He lightly shuttered, an angry Nepeta was not something he wanted to see, he had seen it several times before and every time the long haired young man could swear it got even more frightening, though her moments of anger were normally short lived they were the most nerve-racking moments Equius had ever had to endure.

Sollux glanced over at the other chuckling quietly and nodding in agreement, shoving his hands into his warm jacket pockets. "She would definitely be upset. But hey, I think your head would look nice mounted in her trophy room." He joked, cracking another smile and nudging the other with the side of his arm. Equius gave a small smirk as well, finding the other's joke humorous knowing Sollux had also seen Nepeta in a fit of rage once before.

"Oh yes, my skin will definitely make a nice new rug." Equius added on to the others banter, sharing a quiet laugh with the blonde once more as they passed through the doorway of their destination.

_And there is chapter two. Please notify me of any grammar or spelling mistakes I do tend to overlook those. OH YEAH, ALMOST FORGOT. AHH. Thank you guys for the reviews and favorites and everything! I really do appreciate it all ;D; I'm serious I was sitting in class and I was on my phone (shh.) I was checking my email and when it said I had reviews I let out this high pitched squeal oh my god, it was so embarrassing, other than my friends no one at school has really heard my squeal. *puts face in hands*  
Oh.. one more thing. I'm not sure how many answers I will get on this but.. I need some help, I need to choose the pairing concerning Karkat, I have managed to round it down to KarNep (KatNep.. whatever the official name for it is) and GamKar. I adore them both so much to the point I'm having trouble choosing which one to use. I have one friend telling me to write GamKar and another telling me to write KarNep. On one hand, I was born on the cusp of cancer and leo (July 22nd, baby. So technically I'm a cancer.. and everything about me is just cancerian but I'm kind of a weird Cancer-Leo love child thing.) so I'm like "KarNep is me! I must write KarNep." but then I absolutely love GamKar and I need some more of it in my life haha.. So I figure the rational and fair thing to do is vote, or let someone convince me into writing one over the other on this fic. I suppose I can always try writing them both.. I would just have to figure out how to do that. So, PM me, leave a review with which of those pairings I should write, hunt me down and force me to write the pairing of your choice (no, don't do that, please.) but either way please let me know!  
Alright I think I'm done preaching. Hopefully I will see you guys later this week with the next chapter. Ugh jet lag.. responsibilities be damned, I'm going to sleep. _


	3. Chapter 3

_OKAY.. I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY. I FELL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH... BUT I'M BACK NOW. First I started writing this chapter.. then I decided I didn't like it and started to rewrite it, then my computer broke, then I had testing all last week, then I had an art competition..! Ugh! This is a lot shorter than I intended and I wanted it to be a lotttt longer but I felt I kinda needed to upload SOMETHING.. and I know this chapter probably really sucks cause I have stayed up all night multiple times trying to get it done without it being completely shitty. (THEREFORE AGAIN, APOLOGIZING FOR ANY GRAMMAR OR SPELLING MISTAKES. please let me know of any I totally just pass those by when I'm trying to proof read.) Eridan and Feferi will be introduced next chapter for sure. I decided to go a different route and introduced Latula and Mituna, so hopefully that is okay with everyone.. so.. I know it's shorter than I wanted.. I know it sucks but try to enjoy it.. orz _

Karkat played with the twenty dollar bill still safe in his pocket, running it in between his fingers as he walked down the alley way, searching for the right spot to stop for the night. Every site he had come across had been claimed by a group of people already staked out for the night. Most of those people he would really rather not get involved with. He walked along the back of another business building, the cheap, plastic, 'weather resistant' light fixtures that were mounted over the back entrances of the establishment illuminated the loose gravel and scattered garbage he kicked along with his tired feet. The yellow, artificial light quietly buzzed, not that he could hear it all to well over the muffled late night noises of the city. The young man turned down the next alley way only to be met face to face with disappointment for the 'insert-number-here-because-karkat-had-already-sto pped-counting' time that night. Two others were sitting down with each other nearing the middle of the alley. Karkat stopped and stared for a moment, he could hear them both laughing at something, the two continued to smile at each other, enjoying the conversation they were sharing, whatever it may have been. They were obviously having a good time over there, sitting in the dirt and surrounded by the cold air. The young man proceeded to observe them through his fog of his own dazed and tired stare. One appeared to have their feet propped up on a skateboard, as they rolled it from side to side, their back rested against the wall of the building, making gestures at the other who was sitting parallel to them in the middle of the isle. They didn't seem like strangers to each other, they were definitely close. The cancer just couldn't understand why they were so ecstatic in their current position. Why couldn't he be happy like the two strangers seemed to be? Well he could.. He had been in the past anyway. But these two people out in the alley way had each other, whether they be siblings or lovers they weren't alone, and he had no one. It was loneliness that condemned Karkat, the lack of companionship that restrained him in the own depressing mood. The young man hadn't always been alone, although that time seemed so many more years ago than it actually was.

So there he was, having his recollection of the past, unenjoyably reminiscing with himself in events that happened so long ago, how lost and confused he must have looked. Though some days that is exactly what Karkat was, lost and confused. One thing he wanted most of all was to be able to think of himself as found and to find some sort of understanding in the world other than the New York concrete and the steel strings of his own guitar. To the young man his wandering was aimless and his understanding about certain aspects of life were always changing. He has resorted to just thinking of life as a huge ocean, some people were on boats they had built for themselves, others were on cruise ships and sports boats just breezing by not a care in the world.. and then some- like Karkat- were swimming. His guitar was keeping him afloat he just needed something to pull him into shore.

"Hey.. you okay?" the voice shook Karkat from his daze as his grey eyes focused on the two sitting in the loose gravel and concrete. Heads turned, their attention focused on him. Karkat looked uncomfortably off to the side, his weight switching between his feet as he tried to decide what the best plan of action would be to take. He turned forward once more, picking up his posture attempting to look taller and more confident than he actually happened to be, as he pulled himself forward, traveling further into the space between the two buildings. The one of the two who had been sitting against the wall rose and began to travel towards the dark haired young man. Karkat began to feel his hands shake ever so slightly, causing him to hold the handle of the case with an even firmer grip. He slowly drew it up towards his chest as if to defend himself from the approaching stranger instead of protecting the guitar itself. Though.. the person walking towards him didn't seem to have a threatening disposition.. from what he could tell anyway.. In fact if Karkat wasn't mistaken the silhouette of the other appeared to be very feminine. Though there weren't any doubts in his mind that a girl could kick his ass the young man felt himself relax slightly.

He was able to get a better look at the stranger has they both traveled closer to each other. The small rays of light from the consecutive lighting hanging outside of the building walls were weakly breaking through the darkness of the night making some more aspects of their appearance visible. She had long hair reaching in between her collar bone and her chest, they weren't exactly smiling but they were wearing a pleasant and welcoming expression, they actually looked vaguely familiar though it was most likely just someone he saw around the city.

"You alright?" The stranger called again, their voice didn't ring a bell, it didn't seem to jolt his memory much at all.

"Oh.. Yes.. Sorry! I'm okay.." Karkat replied a bit awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the other, quickly glancing at her face from time to time now that he stood in front of her.

"You seemed a bit lost!" She smiled at him, her teeth glistened even in the lowlight of the alley way, the same dull light reflecting off of her long straight hair, which was brown.. possibly red maybe.

"I feel kind of lost.." Karkat admitted, supporting his case with one hand so he could rub the back of his neck. The strange girl laughed, her laugh was something almost like a giggle though it was quite enthusiastic and almost loud matching the 'pumped up' tone in her voice.

"Well hey, come join us!" The young woman gestured with her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the other still sitting on the pavement. Karkat let his gaze wander back to the ground and off to the right.

"Oh..uh.." The young man was about to reject the invitation before glancing back up to see the girl riding back off on her skateboard towards the person she was there with, leaving no room for him to decline. Karkat let out a sigh, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to sit with the two for a bit. Switching the guitar case between supporting hands once again he slowly began to trail behind the girl rolling away.

She claimed her original spot and waved her hand at him, gesturing for the young man to hurry up. Quickening his pace in response, the girls companion turned to look at him. It was a male, small smile on his face. The strange young man didn't appear to be a threat as he had his arms hidden within the body of his jacket to keep them warm, smiling a bit wider in place of a wave, pushing his cheeks upward underneath his fluffy hair that stuck out in every which direction.

"Hey!" The stranger nodded at Karkat, standing up and kicking his own skateboard against the wall beside where the girl's board had rolled off to the side. He claimed the empty space next to her leaving the space he had been sitting open for Karkat's use.

The dark haired boy set the musical case down on the broken pavement taking, a seat on top of the black sturdy material. He looked down, awkwardly fumbling with his hands, obviously a bit uncomfortable in the presence of the two strangers. "Thank you.." Karkat looked back up from his wrestling hands, giving a single nod. "So..uh.. What brings you two out here..?" The young man asked, making an attempt to keep the conversation going, he usually didn't have to talk to many people throughout the day and to tell the truth his conversational skills weren't exactly up to par.

"Oh we're skateboarders!" The young woman spoke up. "There's an indoor skate spark around here but they are using for.. fight club or something tonight." She shrugged, her voice sounding a bit questioning making it evident she wasn't exactly sure who the group of people occupying the skating arena were. "So we're waiting until they are done." She looked up at her companion, smiling up at him as he threw an arm around her shoulders as they both moved closer to one another. The crazy haired stranger planted a quick kiss on the top of her head making her laugh, they were obviously a couple.

"I'm sorry. But you look really familiar." The strange boy said once him and his girlfriend were both comfortable. There was a lisp lingering in his voice, one of those temporary lisps kids have when they first get braces or a retainer, Karkat hadn't noticed this before, not that it mattered.

"Yeah! He kinda looks like.. Kankri.. Don't you think?" The girl looked up at the other with a questioning look, throwing her arms around in the air for emphasis accordingly with her words, she seemed to be a very animated speaker.

"Woah wait!" Karkat cut them off, he could have sworn he choked on air. He was shaking his head dark hair swinging a bit side to side infront of his eyes. "My.. My brother? ..Kankri? You knew my brother?" The young man stuck his thumbs inside the grasp of his fists, disregarding any reply he might have received, tightly closing his eyes, trying to put together the details.. lisps.. skateboards.. What else? He looked at the two again, trying to take in anymore information that could jump start his memory. The male was sitting quietly, peering down at the ground between his spread feet, his crazy hair falling down over his eyes.. The young woman was now giving Karkat a small, sad smile before she glanced down at her red sunglasses hanging from the neck of her t-shirt.

Karkat started snapping his fingers together beginning to feel a spark illuminating the dark chamber of his memories. "You.. You're… La… Lat.. Lay.." The young man put his head in his hands, taking fistfuls of thick dark hair in his fingers. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, he knew her! He knew them both, but the times his older brother would tell him about his friends was so long ago. "Latula!" He called out a bit louder than necessary, breaking out of his own grip, popping back up to his sitting position, a small triumphant smile on his face.

"That's me!" Latula replied, nodding and giving him a thumbs up.

"Then you must be Mituna.. I think.." Karkat pointed to the other sitting with her.

"Yep!" The young man smiled. "And you're Karkat right?" Mituna asked, trying to move his hair to the side.

Karkat nodded, looking down at his hands that were wresting within the grasp of each other again, he hadn't talked about his older brother in the longest time and ever since he had passed away the topic made him quite uncomfortable. "I don't suppose he talked about me much." He glanced up with questioning grey eyes.

"You kidding me!" Latula exclaimed, throwing both hands on her thighs. "It was always 'Karkat this' and 'Karkat that'!" She crossed both of her arms, trying to attempt a very Kankri-like position and Mituna stifled a laugh but nodded to confirm what the girl was saying was true. "He loveddd to talk about you.. Not that he didn't love to talk about anything and everything else, but he always had this proud, kinda brotherly-loving tone behind his preaching when he talked about you!" They both smiled at him.

"So.. If you don't mind me asking.. How did you two end up on the streets? He never told us." Mituna spoke up after a few moments of silence, asking the young man a bit hesitantly, taking the fact that Karkat could be a bit sensitive to this subject into consideration.

"Oh uh.. Our parents were never really married but had us both together.." Karkat started his explanation, rubbing the back of his neck, looking around at the bricks above the heads of the two a bit afraid of looking them in the eye. "When I was really young our mother kinda.. took us to our fathers house and told him 'these are yours' and left. He wasn't much of a father and never really knew how to be one, so we got kicked to the curb by him and our mother ran off to god knows where. So that's kinda how we ended up here.." The young man let his eyes steal a glance at the other two, them both listening intently to his story, their expressions urging him on further. "I.. became interested in the.." He started loosely swinging his right hand up and down as if he was strumming a guitar. "the.. street performers." He dropped his hands both to his thighs rubbing his knees, trying to wipe off the nervous sweat building up in his palms. "So he bought me my first guitar, and got a few jobs trying to pay for me to get some lessons and so we could stay in hotel rooms some nights and sometimes we would be able to stay in apartments for a few months. And he always had done his street preacher thing."

"Haha! I remember him doing that! Kankles was always on his soap box protesting against something." Latula laughed again rolling her head back a bit before leaning a tad more into Mituna. "Man I miss him!"

"So do I." Karkat confessed and Mituna nodded agreeing with them both, the attention of the three being drawn very quickly after the mutual agreement, to the front of alley way where a girl quickly ran past the gap of the two builds.

"What is she in such a hurry for?" Mituna asked, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"I don't know.." Karkat replied, standing up, guitar case in hand as he threw the strap over his shoulders and across his chest, securing it on his back. "I'll go see if she's alright.. I'll see you guys around.. have fun skateboarding." He waved to them both as he ran back down the alley way and out on to the sidewalk where he stopped to look at the girl running away. Her book bag was smacking almost rhythmically against her short legs, her familiar grey coat gripped in her hand the thick strings that tied in a bow in the front were traveling behind, flailing around in the wind.

"Hey! Nepeta!" He called beginning to jog again, trying to quickly close the distance between them.

_Oh and so far the votes between here and Tumblr and my personal friends and what not for KatNep v. GamKar for this fic.  
KatNep- 7  
GamKar- 5_

_I'm still taking votes, though I do think I will be writing KatNep! Since that is why a lot of you are here in the first place. As always thank you for the new reviews they are always appreciated and totally always make my day! ^^ So hopefully next chapter since I have a lot of it already planned out since that was supposed to be apart of THIS chapter will be up A LOT sooner than this one was. Again.. I am so sorry.. ;; _

_Bye until next time guys! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Wow. ...well. uhm. I died. I am so sorry.. And this chapter totally sucks for the time it took. But after days and days of exams, battling writers block, conventions, internet problems, and re-writing what I had written again and again and again.. I finally got something! So.. Hopefully it will appease you all for the time being.. Until I get next chapter up.. which I'm hoping won't be too long since it's finally summer (whoop whoop). But you know.. life gets in the way from time to time. And I really got into re-writing what I had already written during this chapter.. mostly because I would write it at 3 a.m. and go back and read it the next day and just think "Uhm, yeah okay, no. *deletedeletedeletedelete*"But this time, I'm just going with it! I feel like I have to get something up even if it's not good and it's not much. And yes poor Kankri is dead.. The rest of his story and how he died will be revealed later. but for now, enjoy this sad excuse of a chapter!_

The short haired girl came to a skidding halt, she was almost able to feel the heat building up in the rubber soles of her shoes as they rubbed against the concrete bringing her to a stop. Nepeta turned to look back down the sidewalk, adjusting the worn strap of the book bag on her sore shoulder.

"Oh! Karkat!" She acknowledged the other, recognizing him from their meeting earlier as he came running up to greet her. "Hey!" The brown haired girl let out a giggle as the young man came to a stop infront of her, shaking his dark bangs back in front of his forehead after they had been parted from the wind blowing against him. "Wanna walk with me?" She asked him, gesturing to the vacant piece of concrete next to her, showing him that was plenty of room on the empty walkway for them both. Karkat nodded. He didn't feel it was exactly safe for her- or really anyone to be out over here so late, especially by themselves.

"Walk? What walking? It looked like you were doing some running." The dark haired boy commented as they continued down the pavement in tandem.. "Are you okay? What are you doing out so late?" He asked her, showing interest in the brunettes whereabouts.

"Oh, just class… I go to night school over here!" Nepeta answered, flashing him a wide smile as she lead them on their way.

"Night school?" Karkat raised an eyebrow glancing over at her, "So like.." He paused again, letting his head slightly rock side to side, much like the pendulum of a clock as he searched for the words he was looking for. "...Community college for people who don't have time for community college? What is it you study?"

She laughed at the young man's description, shaking out her already crazy wind-blown hair with her fingers. "Yeah, something like that.. I'm studying to be a veterinarian." Her grin dropped forming into a much more somber smile, her eyes never leaving the moving pavement.

"Oh? Is there something wrong with that..?" Karkat questioned, sensing the small change in her demeanor.

Nepeta took a deep breath, letting the mix emotions of her nighttime classes bounce around in her head before answering. "Well, no.. Just.. You know.. Not my ideal job.." The brunette smiled at him again, stopping to press the pedestrian crossing button, asking the drivers to grant the two access across the street.

"Then why devote so much time to it?" Karkat questioned further, glancing up the metal pole at the traffic controllers. The young man's eyes soon adverted back to Nepeta, the winter wind blowing brown strands infront of her face, hiding the pink it had stirred up on her cheeks and button nose.

"Oh, you know, it gets the bills paid.. or.. will get them paid." She answered letting a small faint laugh follow her statement, the ghostly chuckle released in a frosted breath seeping down under her chin and quickly dissolving in the air. Her green eyes watched the traffic all line up waiting for the two to pass.

"Ahh." Is all the young man replied with, nodding his head knowingly. It seemed he was put into a small daze as he mindlessly followed the brunette across the street. His slow, almost lethargic walk contrasting with the swift gate that proceeded him, earning the dark haired boy a honk or two from the waiting traffic. Karkat definitely did understand the things people would do for some extra cash, the actions of his brother had taught him that. Though it was something he would never forget it was also something he was surely not going to think about at the moment. Nepeta popped back on to the sidewalk slowing up a bit to travel side by side with the other once more. They continued down the concrete in silence until Nepeta came to a stop.

"My apartment is up here." She motioned up the worn wooden staircase, leading up to a row of locked apartment doors, all marked with gold tinted numbers. "Why don't you come inside?" The brunette asked, leaving the question lingering for only a slight second before she said. "Come on!" and began on her way to her apartment door, practically dragging Karkat up the stairs without even actually taking a hold of him, he didn't have much of a choice and just couldn't help but follow her.

She unlocked the door leading him inside and letting the young man glance around. Nepeta slipped her bag off of her shoulder, making its new resting place in the entry way next to the door.

"Here we are!" She exclaimed, another big smile spreading across her face, her arms extended outward as she took a few steps deeper into the apartment. Eventually letting her arms fall back to her sides she turned around to face him again. "It's not much but it's home you know?" Nepeta commented, receiving a nod from the other. "You can look around and set your guitar where ever you deem safe."

"Oh.. here is fine.." Karkat replied, looking around at the floor underneath him as he slipped the guitar straps off of his shoulders, setting the case upright against the wall. "Thank you."

"Sure!" She replied, motioning for him to follow her into the apartment. The brunette walked through the small kitchen leading him to the laundry room, the other following close behind. "Sorry.. I have to get the laundry done.." Nepeta glanced down at the basket full of clothes, biting her lip.

"Oh don't worry about it.. I should probably leave anyway." Karkat replied, standing in the doorway of the small room, taking in the somewhat distressed look displayed on her face.

"No no it's fine." She waved the young man and the idea of him leaving off. "The washing machine is broken so I have to go to the Laundromat or something.." She crouched down, starting to dig through the contents of the basket, making sure none of the cats were lounging in the mound of clothing. "Ahh! There you are! I knew you were in there." Nepeta exclaimed, her sweet smile growing a bit bigger as she pulled the 'kitty-cat' out from the depths of the plastic basket.

Karkat smiled as well, a small good hearted smirk. "I knew you owned cats." He commented earning a giggle from the other. "There was cat hair on your coat earlier.." He added hoping he didn't sound as creepy as he thought he did.

"Yeah.. A lot of my coats are covered in it I think." She laughed again, taking a hold of the laundry basket's handles and picking it up. The young man, stepped out of her way, following her through and out of the apartment yet again eventually walking back on the sidewalk they were on a few minutes prior. Karkat felt a bit uncomfortable without his guitar, he had been carrying it around for years now. And without it he felt a bit exposed like his clothes were missing. But in some way he also enjoyed not having the weight in his calloused hands or on his back, it gave him a chance to stretch and to discover how sore his legs, back and other joints actually were.

"Do you need any help with that..?" Karkat asked the other. Though it didn't seem like she was struggling with the load, he thought asking her if she needed some assistance would be the right thing to do.

Nepeta shook her head, giving him a small appreciative grin. "Oh no I'm fi-" She was cut off from the sound of two quick beeps of a car horn. The sound made Karkat flinch and Nepeta spin around on her heels. The headlights temporarily blinded the two as a sleek, expensive looking car rolled up next to them.

"Hey that looks kinda heavy!" a voice from inside the car called as the tinted window was being rolled down. A head along with numerous locks of thick curly hair popped out of the window frame as the automobile came to a stop.

"Hey Feferi!" Nepeta called to the girl sitting in the car as she ran up to the vehicle, leaving Karkat standing awkwardly by himself on the pavement.

Feferi smiled at the other, the faint light from the street posts reflected in a glow off of the frames of her glasses. "Where are you headed? Do you and your friend want a lift?"

_And there you have it! Yay Feferi. (And Eridan.. though he wasn't really __**introduced **__in this chapter he's there.. I promise.) But anyway as far as our little pairing thing goes, Katnep has won and I will be writing Katnep, but I hope those few who did want GamKar know that there will still be some GamKar cause I mean.. c'mon. But this fic is also really long and complex and includes lots of different characters and pairings and back stories and all of that, so this entire story isn't going to be just about Nepeta and Karkat.. I will have to post a list of all the different pairings I have planned out for this story.. I will probably just update this chapter at some point and add that on here or it will be uploaded along with chapter 5. and thank you guys for the reviews~ they never fail to make me happy! and hopefully you guys don't totally hate me for disappearing and then throwing this terrible chapter at you._


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